The name ‘Akaza Samamiya’ refers to a mangaka from Japan that is best known for her ‘Bloody Mary’ series. ‘Mangaka’ is the name the Japanese give to people that write and draw manga.

Akaza primarily writes stories set in the Shoujo genre. Shoujo are stories written with female readers in mind. And Akaza Samamiya’s stories distinctly fall in line with the Shoujo structure.

The author’s graphic novels center on the topic of love. There’s always a pair of protagonists who initially clash when they meet. But as time goes by and as the protagonists get to know one another, the layers peel away and they fall in love.

Akaza does inject a few variations into her stories. For instance, in Torikago Syndrome, the heroine initially struggles with elements of bondage when they are rescued from a terrible situation by a handsome hero who turns out to be the jealous possessive type.

With ‘Bloody Mary’, the love aspect is only ever hinted at, but it never actually bears fruit.

Akaza Samamiya has been commended for her impressive artistic abilities. The author’s graphic novels are always crisply drawn, and they feature a lot of floral tones and patterns that effectively convey the romantic aspect of the stories she tells.

Even though Akaza’s stories are primarily romantic in nature, she isn’t afraid to explore some truly dark territory, though there are some lines she will not cross.

The author primarily works with the Shojo magazine Asuke. Akaza loves interacting with her fans at signings and conventions. Though, some of her readers do not like the fact that they rarely leave interactions with her with drawings.

That is a common aspect of manga and anime conventions in Japan. When readers get to meet their favorite mangaka, those mangaka will normally draw a character or two for them. However, Akaza has admitted that she isn’t a very quick drawer and one assumes that she doesn’t want to create long lines as she tries to get a drawing or two done for a fan.

But that hasn’t made her any less popular amongst her fans.

+Bloody Mary Volume 1

Bloody Mary has been alive for over four centuries. For all intents and purpose, he is immortal, the result of his status as a vampire. Unlike the vampires of old, though, Mary doesn’t follow the common tropes.

He will not die in the sunlight and he can be seen in the reflections of mirrors. While he does have a thirst for human blood, he has refused to indulge in it. And now, the only wish Mary wants to be fulfilled is for him to die.

However, as a vampire, achieving such an objective is no easy feat. Luckily for Bloody Mary, he knows how to overcome his immortality. Mary believes that a modern-day exorcist by the names of Maria can bring his life to an end, especially if it is true that he has indeed inherited ‘The Blood of Maria’.

Mary doesn’t know that Maria is a 17-year-old boy. And when they meet, the vampire is even more disturbed to learn that his last hope has no idea how to kill him or vampires in general.

But Mary won’t give up. He makes it his goal to protect Maria from the many enemies that suddenly seem determined to kill him. And in return, Maria will keep trying to find a way to kill him.

‘Bloody Mary’ is Akaza Samamiya’s most popular series. The series takes common vampire tropes and tries to put a bit of a spin to them, though some people would disagree that Akaza succeeds in that area.

The first volume in the series finds a young exorcist named Maria being stalked by an ancient vampire. Maria doesn’t know that much about the powers he inherited from his family until Mary comes into his life and changes everything.

When Maria learns about Bloody Mary’s conundrum, his wish to die, the exorcist offers the vampire a deal. He will happily figure out a way to kill Mary if the vampire protects him from other vampires.

Mary has nothing better to do so he agrees to the deal. Maria enters into the arrangement not just because he needs the protection. He also recognizes the fact that Mary can help him unlock the secrets of his powers as an exorcist.

This first book primarily focuses on the relationship between Mary and Maria. A lot of hints about a larger plot are also provided. It is suggested that there might be more to Maria’s family line than meets the eye.

The volume has been criticized for being a little confusing, primarily because Akaza Samamiya asks a lot of questions but provides almost no answers to speak of. Though, her fans believe that she does an amazing job of setting up her world and leaving room for her readers to want more by dropping numerous hints.

Even though this volume deals with vampires and is, thus, somewhat dark, there are elements of humor primarily because Mary is always running after Maria and pleading to be killed. Their relationship is a source of ridiculous comedy.

+Bloody Mary Volume 2

Bloody Mary is an ancient vampire that wants to die. He stalks a young exorcist by the names of Maria who he believes might hold the key to his death.

Maria never knew he had powers. His exorcist abilities came as a surprise to him. When Maria and Mary team up, it is with the intention of keeping Maria alive until he can fulfill Mary’s wish by killing him.

Though, for Maria, he is more interested in exploring his new powers than killing vampires. With Mary’s help, Maria beings learning about the memories hidden in his mind which he has been suppressing.

It occurs to Maria that these ‘Red Memories’ might hold the key to unlocking his powers. Mary is a little anxious about what Maria will find if he uncovers his lost memories. Mary figures that there must be a reason why the exorcist chose to hide those memories.

Mary has his own batch of missing memories that begin flooding back to him when he helps Maria uncover the ‘Red Memories’.

This book explores the histories of Maria and Mary. And it is revealed that the two might have more of a connection than they initially realized. What they ultimately discover tests their growing relationship.

All Gabriel Allon fans will be eagerly anticipating this one - your favourite spy is back in The New Girl, coming to bookshelves in mid-July. In this one, a girl is kidnapped from an exclusive private school in Switzerland and Gabriel Allon is brought on board to find her. More Details.

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If you’re a fan of standalone thrillers then be sure to read any of the standalones by Brad Parks. The guy is a master! I’ve read over 50 different authors of standalone thrillers in the last year and no-one stands out like Brad. More Details.

Did You Know…

Dean Koontz won an Atlantic Monthly Fiction Competition when he was a senior in college. He has an estimated number of over 400 million copies sold and his work has been published in more than 38 languages all over the world. His books have topped New York’s bestsellers’ list thirteen times and he also has to his credit of becoming the bestseller in countries as diverse as Sweden and Japan.